FOX News anchor Chris Wallace left US Press Secretary Sarah Sanders temporarily stunned during an intense grilling session on claims the Trump Administration made about the need for a border wall with Mexico.

Fox News host Chris Wallace had Sarah Sanders at a loss for words as he repeatedly fact-checked the Press Secretary and President Donald Trump on their claims about the proposed border wall with Mexico. President Trump suggested terrorist cells could exploit the vulnerabilities of the border to enter the US illegally despite no official data backing the claim. Mr Wallace confronted Ms Sanders, pointing out a majority of suspected terrorists had been stopped after attempting to land in American airports.

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Referring to a speech from Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, Mr Wallace said: "The President talks about terrorists potentially coming across the border.

"Special interest aliens are just people who come from countries that have ever produced a terrorist, not terrorist themselves. The State Department says, their words, that there is ‘no credible evidence' of any terrorist coming across the border from Mexico."

The US Press Secretary attempted to back her claims with but the Fox News presenter was quick to interrupt her: "I know the statistics, I didn’t know if you were going to use it, but I studied up on this. Do you know what those 4,000 people come, where they are captured? Airports.

"The State Department says there hasn’t been any terrorist they have found coming across the southern border. They’re not coming across the southern border, Sarah. They are coming and they are being stopped in airports."

During the presidential campaign in 2016, President Trump vowed to build a wall with Mexico to put an end to the large migratory flux towards the US from most of South America.

Mr Trump has been engaged in a bitter debate with Democrats, who won a majority of seats in the House of Representatives in November, over potential funding for the wall. The failure to reach a bipartisan agreement on the wall led to a shutdown of the US Government on December 22.

"It’s by air, it’s by land and it’s by sea. It’s all of the above. But one thing you are forgetting is that the most vulnerable point of entry we have into this country is our southern border and we have to protect it.

"I’m not disagreeing with you that they are coming through airports. I’m saying that they come by air, by land and by sea. The more and more our border becomes vulnerable and the less time we spend money protecting it, the more we are going to have an influx – not just of terrorists, but of human traffickers, drug inflow and people that are coming here to do American citizen’s harm."

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Mr Trump has insisted on funding for a "wall," but lately has shifted to talking about steel fencing in the hope the term is less politically charged.

Tall, slatted fences already are in place in some spots on the border and more are being built.

Funding for more slats, or other alternatives to concrete, could let Trump declare victory and let Democrats say they blocked a wall.

President Trump announced on Thursday he will not attend the annual World Economic Forum in Davos because of the "intransigence " of Democrats on border security.

Taking to his Twitter account, President Trump tweeted: "Because of the Democrats intransigence on Border Security and the great importance of Safety for our Nation, I am respectfully cancelling my very important trip to Davos, Switzerland for the World Economic Forum. My warmest regards and apologies to the @WEF!"

The current shutdown is in its nineteenth day, which makes it the longest to happen since 1995. This closure is affecting nearly 800,000 federal employees, including FBI agents and TSA agents who aren’t being paid.

Should the shutdown continue much longer, there are questions as to whether 40 million Americans will be able to afford food and whether those in subsidised housing will be able to pay their rent.